As the Italian government struggled to borrow and Spain considered seeking an international bail-out, British ministers privately warned that the break-up of the euro, once almost unthinkable, is now increasingly plausible.
Diplomats are preparing to help Britons abroad through a banking collapse and even riots arising from the debt crisis.
The Treasury confirmed earlier this month that contingency planning for a collapse is now under way.
A senior minister has now revealed the extent of the Government’s concern, saying that Britain is now planning on the basis that a euro collapse is now just a matter of time.
“It’s in our interests that they keep playing for time because that gives us more time to prepare,” the minister told the Daily Telegraph.
Can someone working at an EU mission tell me what exactly a contingency plan to deal with thousands of vacationing people whose credit cards have stopped working would look like?
Perhaps an official warning would trigger panic and make the eurozone’s horrible problems even worse.
But I don’t know.
What could be worse that tens of thousands of foreigners being stuck in mainland Europe because they can’t use their money whether it is cash or credit card?
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Charles Crawford retired from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2007. He was HM Ambassador in Sarajevo (1996-1998), in Belgrade (2001-2003) and most recently in Poland (2003-2007).
He has an article based on the one Curt posted but taking it this step further here.
Nan G.
that is a very scary scenario to endure for who ever would
be stuck in foreign COUNTRIES, because the crash of all money and cards,
if the riots start there, and what we see here, to who they will direct their protest?
there is no one there to stop it and they have no where to go anymore,
so the people are better to stay put and endure by being very careful with spending,
and save as much as they can , but riots would only kill people and not fix anything.
bye